Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Universal Music has confirmed with SDE the details around the mastering of the forthcoming vinyl reissues of The Verve‘s A Storm in Heaven and A Northern Soul.

The sources for the albums were digital files prepared from the original half-inch tapes. The record label are keen to stress that much care and attention has been taken during this whole process, and, for example, there has been no de-noising with only clicks and drop-outs, repaired where necessary.

The remastering for the project was conducted by Chris Potter (at the band’s request), Tony Cousins at Metropolis and Sabian at Fullsound. The vinyl lacquers were cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy and the records were pressed by Optimal Media.

The vinyl editions will be issued on 9 September 2016 along with the super deluxe edition box sets, which come with a large amount of bonus material.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

The former Verve frontman tells Radio X about his "epic" "They Don't Own Me" single, and explains why he's not nervous about releasing new music.

Richard Ashcroft says he's not worried about unveiling new material, but is "always ready for the fight" when he releases his music.

Asked by Radio X's Phil Clifton if he ever gets nerves about bringing out new music, he replied: "I don't really."

He added: "I know at the same time when I'm realizing it there'll be a certain strain of the music industry that will have a resistance against what I do."

"It's always gonna be there, so I'm ready for the fight when I release something."

Speaking about his "They Don't Own Me" single, Ashcroft said: "I think I went for it as a contrast to 'Hold On,' to show the album's got other sides to it as well."

"It's an epic."

Listen to "They Don't Own Me" below:

Despite the former Verve frontman's confidence in his own abilities, he said he still constantly rebels against other people's expectations of him.

"I wasn't allowed to take GCSE in music," revealed the "Hold On" singer. "I was banned from taking art. I was told I was the cancer of the class. I was given a ceiling and still at 40-something, people try and put a ceiling on what you are or what you should aim for."

He added: "I don't care which school you went to, I don't care how safe you are. I don't care where you're coming from. My stuff is up there with yours."

Talking about his upcoming arena shows in December, "The Drugs Don't Work" singer said: "There are gonna be nights hopefully where we're gonna have that thing again that me and my audience had at those smaller gigs a few weeks ago, so I'm really looking forward to that as well."

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Back then, of course, they were known simply as ‘Verve’… But can it really be almost 25 years since Richard Ashcroft (vocals), Nick McCabe (guitars), Simon Jones (bass) and Pete Salisbury, (drums) arrived like a bolt from the blue into a grey musical universe and reminded the world quite how transcendent rock’n’roll can be?

On September 9th UMC release expanded editions of The Verve’s seminal first two albums AStorm In Heaven and A Northern Soul. Both remastered by Chris Potter (co-producer of the band’s Urban Hymns) at Metropolis studios, the albums feature previously unreleased and never-heard-before tracks, E.P. and B-sides material and BBC sessions.

Both albums are presented as 3CD box sets (A Storm In Heaven also contains a bonus DVD) and both come with booklets featuring new interviews and previously unseen photos. Limited edition vinyl versions will also be released in faithful reproductions of the original packaging.

Description: The Verve’s stunning debut album from 1993 gets a thorough overhaul with
this wonderful 4-disc Super Deluxe box set. Remastered by Chris Potter
(co-producer of the band’s ‘Urban Hymns’) the original album comes amply
augmented by all of the legendary pre-album EP tracks, associated
acoustic versions, as well as two previously unreleased BBC radio
sessions and two excellent previously unreleased studio albums – ‘South
Pacific’ and ‘Shoeshine Girl’. The DVD presents a 1992 Camden Town Hall
concert, the US promo video for ‘Blue’ plus unseen footage of the band
in New York in October 1992. There’s also a new video for the unreleased
‘South Pacific’, made from the album’s recording sessions, as captured
by producer John Leckie. The package, which comes in a lift-off-lid box,
also includes four post cards, a poster and a 48-page book featuring
new interviews and previously unseen photos.

Description: Undoubtedly one of the most powerful British rock statements of all time
The Verve’s second album spawned three Top 40 singles – ‘This Is
Music’, ‘On Your Own’ and ‘History’. For this sumptuous 3-CD Super
Deluxe box set the original audio has been remastered by Chris Potter
(co-producer of their ‘Urban Hymns’ album) and comes augmented by all of
the associated B-sides, two previously unreleased BBC radio sessions
and seven unreleased studio tracks, including early versions of ‘The
Rolling People’ and ‘Come On’. The package comes in a lift-off-lid box
covered in silver mirrorboard as with the original LP release and
contains four postcards, a poster and a 36-page book with new interviews
and previously unseen photos.